“Fun,” Jamie repeated, but then went upstairs to change her clothes.
* * *
All the women were already at the wine bar when Jamie entered: Vicky, Jill, Alicia, and Bette. They all looked over at her, and there was something in their collective stare that chilled her blood.
“What?” Jamie asked.
There was a charged moment where they all glanced at one another, and then Bette said, “The Haynes girl said she went to your house to spread somebody’s ashes. Tell me that’s an early Halloween thing?”
“Sit,” Vicky said, pointing to a chair. No scooting over on the bench today.
Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Jamie crossed the last few feet and sank down in the empty chair nearest Vicky. The other women gazed at her in a mixture of horror and awe.
“That was . . . really out there,” said Vicky.
“No judgment, but why did you do it?” Alicia asked.
“Isn’t that something you do as a family?” Jill asked. “Walk along a beach . . . spread ashes . . . everyone says something about a family member? Kind of one of those really personal things?”
No judgment? Yeah, sure. How could she explain? Did she even want to try? Looking at their faces, Jamie decided to take a stab at it. “Harley wanted a friend. She was a little afraid . . . put off . . . by it all, but my sister was adamant. Emma knew Mom wanted to be in the garden.”
Vicky pursed her lips. “Emma.”
“I would rather have had it be just our family, but . . .” She turned her hands palms up, then dropped them to her lap.
“Laura Haynes is buying a house in Staffordshire with her boyfriend. She’s . . . well, she’s pretty upset with you.” Though Vicky’s words were a rebuke, she seemed to be distracted.
Alicia put a hand out to Jamie, touching her fingers. “Don’t let it get to you. Laura’s nice, but she’s strung tight where her daughter’s concerned. She’s lucky Marissa’s stepdad is Cooper Haynes and he’s so good with her. She could have my ex. He’s a problem.”
Deon Stillwell of the grab hands. Yes, he was a problem.
Jill said, “That girl’s on the edge of trouble.”
“Who? Marissa?” Bette glared at Jill. “She’s just like every other high school girl. The drama. The angst! I’ve met her a number of times. I’ve seen her with Cooper. She’s like a true daughter to him. She’s fine.”
“You planning to get to him through his daughter?” Vicky asked with a sidelong look.
“If that would work,” Bette agreed without compunction. “But I’d rather just go right up to him and say, ‘You need to know me’ and take it from there.”
The women all chuckled and the moment of recrimination passed.... Jamie was already regretting coming. It wasn’t like these women would necessarily be her friends, not like Camryn or even Gwen. Still, she was relieved they’d apparently forgiven her her gaffe with Laura Haynes. She sensed that this “wine klatch” could turn on her very quickly. Navigating female friendships never seemed to get any easier.
The talk moved to the school, and the fury the women felt over possible suspensions.
“They were costumes,” Vicky declared. “It was fun, and no one got hurt. It was your daughter, right? Who was part of the skit?”
She was looking at Jamie, who said, “Um, yes.”
“Troy wasn’t part of it,” Alicia said, in a tone that suggested she’d been saying this a lot.
“Troy was, too,” Vicky flashed, showing a deadlier side. “He just didn’t get caught.”
Alicia’s lips tightened.
“Girls, girls,” Jill admonished. She didn’t have any children, apparently a choice she and her husband had made.
“We’ve got to figure this out,” Vicky insisted.
“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Alicia asked. “If this got back to Deon and he thought his son couldn’t play football. . . ?” She shuddered.
“It’s only Monday,” Jill said breezily. “It’ll be worked out by the end of the week.”
Would it? Jamie wondered, and from that point on she checked out of the conversation, waiting for her chance to escape.
“The old hags with the freshman girls better mind their own business. Edina and Marty What’s-her-name and Caroline. They need to get their fat asses out of it.”
Alicia said, “They’re trying to take over the PTA.”
“Let ’em,” said Bette.
“Easy for you,” Vicky snapped. “Alex isn’t on the football team.”
“He’s a musician in the band,” Bette declared.
Jamie wanted to edge out the door.
“What about Greer?” Jill asked, although Jamie thought she was just trying to divert from what was becoming a tense moment among the women.
They all took a moment to back off. Hearing Greer’s name, Jamie’s ears pricked up.
“Who knows?” Vicky shook her head, her lips still pressed together. “Dug’ll have a fit if he can’t play, and he’s the best defensive player on the team.”
Dug? “Is Greer Dug’s son?” Jamie asked.
“Yep.” Vicky gave her a smile that was more like a grimace. “Small world, huh?”
“And both Greer and Troy have had their problems,” Bette reminded them, drawing a killing look from Alicia. “Well, it’s true.”
“Nothing big,” Alicia said.
“Yeah. Grand theft auto. Nothing big.” That was from Jill.
Alicia looked like she was about to cry. She swept up her purse, and everyone immediately begged her to stay and Vicky apologized for being bitchy. She was just so worried about Tyler and the team.
Jamie left as soon as she could, her head full of new information. Greer Douglas was the boy Harley seemed most interested in, and he’d stolen a car?
As she drove home, she reminded herself not to jump off the deep end until she knew more. Paul had had a series of scrapes with the law that she’d found dangerous and romantic as a teenager.
Chapter Thirteen
By Friday morning, the question about the boys involved in the Halloween prank at the mixer was resolved. None of the boys were suspended. The parents had lobbied hard and there were only a few who’d objected, the small group of parents who’d been called out at Leander’s
